1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to garden sprinkler hoses and more particularly to perforated hose sprinklers which distribute the water evenly in a fine mist. The present invention relates to a novel apparatus for enabling the hose to have a self winding feature to permit the hose to be rapidly rewound on its reel after use. The present invention also relates to a novel design for the hose and its attachments which eliminates the requirement for expensive rotary seals and assures that there will not be significant leakage from the hose at the location adjacent the reel on which it is wound. The present invention also relates to improvements in the reel assembly which enables it to rewind the hose after use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, perforated hose sprinklers have been in use for many years. The hose is generally flat and is generally rectangular in cross section. In operation, the hose is laid flat on the ground. The upper surface of the hose contains a multiplicity of pin holes at evenly spaced locations along the length of the hose. Water is permitted to run through the hose and exits the hose in an even fine mist through the multiplicity of pin holes.
In the most common embodiment, the perforated hose sprinkler is sold in a long unwound length which is laid flat on the ground. The front end of the hose is sealed. The rear end contains a conventional coupling which is attached to the source of water. A major problem with this design is that after use, it is very difficult to efficiently store the hose. The hose frequently becomes tangled during storage and sections of hose are bent and twisted. As a result, a tear frequently occurs in several portions along the length of the hose, thereby resulting in a significant loss of efficiency. After numerous tears, the hose becomes useless.
One improvement in the non perforated standard sprinkler hose management is that the hose is wound on a reel when not used. The hose is unwound when in use. The water enters the hose at the reel through a rotary seal and is discharged at the free end through a typical hand held spray head. One very significant disadvantage with this design is the requirement for expensive rotary seals to be used at the location of the coupling on the section of hose attached to the reel or on the coupling in the reel itself. After a few uses, the rotary seal frequently develops leaks. As a result, the user becomes soaked when he turns the water source on and when he turns the water source off. In addition, the leaks substantially reduce the amount of water which goes through the hose. Therefore, there is a significant waste of water. In addition, manual rewinding of the wet hose after use affords the user another opportunity to become wet. Furthermore, state of the art hoses must be completely unwound prior to use, which makes handling difficult and becomes more time consuming.
Therefore, while hoses wound on reels are known in the prior art, all of the known prior art embodiments contain the disadvantages set forth above. Perforated hoses are not wound on reels in the prior art, which further creates the disadvantages described above.